Chapter Summaries

Bernie told Su Mo about the Enterprise’s vast Hulai City and the uncertain fate of the Academy’s Holy City, prompting Su Mo to plan reconnaissance of the nearby Great Rift Valley Base. As the Metal Sigh disaster arrived, Tian Yuan Territory prepared for metal aging while conflict intensified across Qinggang City’s South Suburbs.

• Bernie explained that the Enterprise profited from wars and described Hulai City as a huge settlement with nearly five million residents and eight hundred thousand soldiers.
• Bernie revealed that Hulai City had no news of the Academy’s Holy City, and Su Mo told Katerina that it might not have crossed over; Katerina became alarmed.
• Su Mo and Su Deben discussed monitoring the Great Rift Valley Base before considering an expedition to Hulai City, while planning to resolve the territory’s metal-aging risks first.
• The Wanderer Legion escalated its attacks on the South Suburbs, and the South Suburbs Alliance struggled to counter its tactics as Qinggang Shelter remained behind the conflict.
• As the Metal Sigh disaster approached, Su Mo’s people gathered and isolated metal goods, vehicles, energy stones, and research facilities around Hope Village.
• Su Mo reassured Su Chan that the Underground City would be protected, and a bell rang through the village as the disaster began at noon.

As the Metal Sigh Disaster corroded metal across the wasteland and destroyed an Enterprise satellite, Su Mo considered how it would affect the coming migration and conflicts. He drafted Tian Yuan Territory 2.0, emphasizing infrastructure, growth, recruitment, trade, and war preparations, while identifying Qinggang Shelter as the territory’s greatest future threat.

• Metal objects rapidly rusted and deformed as fiery meteors streaked across the sky, and one struck a plantation in Tian Yuan Territory.
• Su Mo and Chen Shen found that the fallen object was an Enterprise satellite, and Su Mo ordered the area sealed off.
• Su Mo decided against attacking Qinggang Shelter, citing the need to attract migrating players, uncertainty about its strength, and Tian Yuan Territory’s insufficient manpower.
• Su Mo reviewed the territory’s supplies and residents’ savings, then concluded that infrastructure investment could create jobs and absorb surplus resources.
• Su Mo drafted Tian Yuan Territory 2.0, outlining plans for villages, technology, commerce, army expansion, migration, trade, and war preparations.
• Su Mo identified Qinggang Shelter as Tian Yuan Territory’s greatest threat and resolved to develop both infrastructure and military strength ahead of an eventual conflict.

On the first day of the Metal Sigh Disaster, Su Mo tested how Hope Village would receive new arrivals while planning for a growing migration wave. He reviewed Wasteland Bear’s handling of prisoners and set out to inspect Wasteland Bone Village, leaving the village chief’s position in question.

• Tian Yuan Territory announced a holiday and plans to build a third village near the fishman tribe, prompting residents to speculate about the new village and incoming arrivals.
• Old Wang and the other escapees hesitated outside Hope Village until Feng Chuiyu and Yu Chuifeng recruited them into their caravan with food, beds, wages, and one-year contracts.
• Su Mo learned that the villagers had recruited the escapees before they entered Hope Village and reviewed his plans to absorb newcomers while identifying dangerous people.
• Wasteland Bear reported that 597 prisoners had been assigned work and that 144 who resisted or tried to escape had been sent to the Coolie Camp.
• Su Mo took Wasteland Bear to inspect Wasteland Bone Village and assess whether he was fit to remain its village chief.

Su Mo visited Wasteland Bone Village and learned that its wanderers regarded the shelter residents’ rapid advancement as natural. He saw the village’s expanding settlement and labor arrangements, then left Wasteland Bear with greater responsibility as former captives chose to stay.

• Su Mo questioned Wasteland Bear about differences between shelter residents and wanderers, and learned that the villagers considered the shelter residents unusually capable but unsurprising.
• Su Mo and Wasteland Bear traveled to Wasteland Bone Village, where Su Mo saw new housing under construction and learned that captives were helping build homes they could eventually occupy.
• Wasteland Bear explained that Chen Shen planned to move some plantations to the village, while players would pay local workers with factory goods as compensation.
• Su Mo praised Wasteland Bear’s management and asked two former captives why they wanted to remain; Cui An and Tang Dong said they hoped to live peacefully in the village.
• Su Mo offered to pay for Cui An and Tang Dong’s next meal, and Wasteland Bear pledged to teach the captives and wanderers loyalty.

Su Mo surveyed Dragon Rise Village and Fishmen Village as the Metal Aging Disaster halted industry and reshaped life across the territory. In Qinggang City, the disaster crippled the South Suburbs Alliance: Jacob killed Francis and took control of Dilonghua Shelter, while Harbor Shelter also surrendered, leaving the alliance broken.

• Su Mo inspected Dragon Rise Village's three industrial zones and Fishmen Village's new waterway, businesses, and combat training ground.
• At Dilonghua Shelter, Jacob learned that Francis planned to surrender to Harbor Shelter and hand him and Hunter Tiger over as war criminals.
• Jacob denounced Francis, killed him in front of the shelter's residents, and declared himself the new Administrator.
• Dilonghua Shelter became the first South Suburbs shelter to surrender to Harbor Shelter, offering Francis's head as a pledge of allegiance.
• Kensa announced that Harbor Shelter was joining with Dilonghua Shelter, and the South Suburbs Alliance collapsed.

After several South Suburbs shelters submitted to Qinggang Shelter, Edmund learned that the West Suburbs Alliance was fortifying its territory and that Tian Yuan Shelter had captured his scouts. Meanwhile, Su Mo welcomed Hunter Tiger and Kevin Horsens to Tian Yuan’s Outpost Base for the West Suburbs Alliance’s second formal meeting.

• Edmund watched Wanderer Legion soldiers enter Qinggang New City and learned that eight South Suburbs shelters had submitted to Qinggang Shelter.
• Edmund heard that scouts had encountered armed, humanlike Radiation Beasts, found the West Suburbs Alliance building defenses, and been captured after entering Tian Yuan Shelter’s territory.
• Edmund convened an emergency meeting to prepare for possible attacks on New City.
• Hunter Tiger arrived at Tian Yuan’s Outpost Base, praised its rapid construction, and accepted food from Su Mo.
• Su Mo offered to send chefs to Pingtan Shelter, and Hunter Tiger considered the effects of opening the shelter to more outside influences.
• Kevin Horsens arrived at the Outpost Base with nearly a hundred people from the Horsens Shelter.

Su Mo met Kevin Horsens, who came from the fractured South Suburbs Alliance to seek Horsens Shelter’s entry into the West Suburbs Alliance. Kevin accepted its demanding conditions and asked for help returning his people to the surface, leaving Su Mo to hear what assistance he wanted.

• The South Suburbs Alliance split into factions, and seven shelters considered joining the West Suburbs Alliance.
• Kevin Horsens arrived at Tian Yuan Territory and introduced himself to Su Mo while testing Hunter Tiger’s reaction to Su Mo’s authority.
• Su Mo explained that West Suburbs Alliance members had autonomy and would cooperate as equals, and Kevin said he could accept the alliance’s conditions.
• Kevin praised Pingtan Shelter’s surface development and said Horsens Shelter wanted to return to the surface and preserve its industrial autonomy.
• Su Mo asked what help Kevin needed, and Kevin prepared to explain his request.

Su Mo negotiated with Kevin over Horsens Shelter’s entry into the West Suburbs Alliance and proposed building its branch base near his shelter. He sent Kevin to tour the Alliance’s farms and industrial zone, where Kevin discovered fertile land and crops nearing maturity.

• Kevin asked the Alliance for protection, technical guidance, trade, and land for a branch base, while Su Mo asked what Horsens Shelter would offer in return.
• Kevin offered soldiers and an IOU, but Hunter Tiger dismissed the claim that Horsens Shelter’s troops could rival the Pingtan Army.
• Su Mo proposed that Horsens Shelter build its branch base in the West Suburbs, but Kevin hesitated because his shelter had resources for only one construction effort.
• Su Mo sent Kevin, Geng Changtian, and Price on a tour led by Lu Zhou, and they traveled to Hope Village in a Lizard Car.
• Kevin saw thriving crops in fertile soil and learned that other plantations had crops nearing maturity.

Kevin toured Tian Yuan Shelter’s farmland and industrial zones, and the scale of its development convinced him to join the West Suburbs Alliance. He asked Lu Zhou to take him back so he could answer Lord Su Mo’s question and begin building a branch base.

• Lu Zhou showed Kevin the wheat and vegetable plantations and explained that the territory wanted him to establish a branch base nearby.
• Lu Zhou brought Kevin to the Chicken Blood plantation, where Chicken Blood Pumping answered Kevin’s detailed questions and described Tian Yuan’s agricultural plans.
• Chicken Blood Pumping warned Kevin about relying on machines that produced basic food, and Kevin fell silent.
• Lu Zhou took Kevin to Dragon Rise Village’s Industrial Zone, where its scale changed Kevin’s attitude.
• Kevin asked Lu Zhou to take him back, declared that he was eager to build a branch base, and said he could now answer Lord Su Mo’s question.

Kevin joined the West Suburbs Alliance and began building Horsens Shelter’s branch base, Huo Village, in the Tian Yuan Territory. Ten days later, as supplies arrived at night, the Warning Wall guards spotted an emergency signal and reported trouble in Qinggang.

• Kevin returned from touring Su Mo’s territory and agreed to join the West Suburbs Alliance and build Horsens Shelter’s branch base there.
• Su Mo welcomed Kevin as the alliance’s fourth ally, while Aldrich considered whether to establish a branch base of his own.
• Kevin returned to Horsens Shelter and mobilized residents to transport materials and build Huo Village near Wasteland Bone Village.
• Over ten days, Huo Village’s residents cleared land and built simple wooden houses, while the settlement’s supplies continued arriving at night.
• The Warning Wall guards noticed the lights from an incoming supply group blinking in an unusual pattern and sounded the alarm about trouble in Qinggang.

Huo Village’s supply team reached the Warning Wall while fleeing dwarves, and Zhang Zhi Shang warned that an army of tens of thousands was marching on Qinggang City. At the Lightning Wall, Edmund’s cannons failed to pierce the enemy’s enormous Light Shield, leaving him convinced Qinggang Shelter was about to fall.

• Lu Zhou recognized the pursuers as dwarves and ordered the wall guards to fire, but their crossbow bolts bounced off blue-white shields as Huo Village’s supply team entered the city.
• Zhang Zhi Shang told the guards that the dwarves had gathered an army of at least tens of thousands, including Heavy Tank Lizards, and intended to conquer Qinggang City.
• Edmund saw the dwarven army approaching the Lightning Wall with giant Heavy Tank Lizards and ordered sixty City Cannons to fire 80MM Armor-Piercing Incendiary Bombs.
• A colossal Light Shield blocked every cannon shell, and Edmund ordered his men to alert the people underground and wake the Administrator.

Edmund and Tang En awakened Hades as the Qinggang Shelter faced an advancing army, while Hunter Tiger and Pingtan forces surrounded a Dwarf squad at the Warning Wall. Su Mo arrived after the fighting ended, leaving the captured Dwarves in the defenders’ hands and the Energy Stone Bomb unused.

• Tang En overruled the elders and secured a unanimous vote to awaken Hades beneath the Qinggang Shelter’s meeting room.
• The Dwarf Captain halted his squad’s advance on the Warning Wall and ordered the Dwarves to retreat toward their main force.
• Hunter Tiger and his men ambushed the retreating Dwarves, and Hunter Tiger killed one with his Wolf Tooth Club after dodging its energy attack.
• Liu Peiqiang explained that the Dwarves’ force fields prevented them from attacking while active and had a delay before activation.
• Hunter Tiger called in Pingtan soldiers and Warning Wall guards, who surrounded more than a hundred Dwarves.
• Su Mo left the research institute without using the unstable Energy Stone Bomb and arrived at the Warning Wall after the battle had ended.

Su Mo used hot water to defeat the Dwarves’ First Generation force fields, then learned that a force of tens of thousands had invaded Qinggang City. He and Hunter Tiger flew toward the battle and discovered the Dwarves had deployed a massive Combined Lockdown Force Field, leaving them unsure whether to fight or flee.

• Su Mo ordered Lu Zhou to prepare hot water and a weapon case, then explained that the Dwarves were the Myriad Kingdoms Dwarves and their turtle-shell shields could be penetrated without strong impacts.
• Su Mo sprayed hot water through the Dwarves’ First Generation force fields, throwing their formation into disarray as he explained how the shields and their weapons worked.
• A guard told Su Mo that tens of thousands of Dwarves had entered the city and headed for the Qinggang Shelter, prompting Su Mo and Hunter Tiger to fly toward the North Suburbs.
• Su Mo and Hunter Tiger heard explosions and saw a huge white barrier withstand attacks; Su Mo identified it as a Combined Lockdown Force Field, and Hunter Tiger suggested organizing a retreat.

Hades awakened and ordered Qinggang New City's defenders to hold their fire while he prepared a way to counter the dwarves' siege. As the lizards broke through the city gate, Su Mo noticed an unexplained object enter their ranks, and the lizards began to grow more violent.

• Edmund ordered the City Cannons to cease fire after Hades identified himself over the communicator and commanded the defenders to wait for his gift.
• Su Mo and Hunter Tiger watched the battle from the North Suburbs as Hunter Tiger described Hades's history and his use of a biological weapon against Qinggang's enemies.
• The dwarves' Light Shield surged forward, letting the City Cannons hit unshielded lizards while the Heavy Tank Lizards smashed through the city gate.
• Su Mo noticed that something had flown from the wall into the lizard ranks, and he and Hunter Tiger observed the lizards becoming more violent.

Su Mo and Hunter Tiger watched Hades’s biological weapon turn the Dwarven army’s lizards and soldiers into rampaging, mutating threats, ultimately destroying the force inside its sealed barrier. After Qinggang Shelter’s victory, Su Mo agreed to meet Hades, hoping to learn the weapon’s origin and find a way to counter the Biological Inhibitor.

• The lizards in the Dwarf positions mutated after the city defenders launched small devices, then attacked the Dwarves and one another.
• Su Mo and Hunter Tiger realized the biological effect resembled Hades’s virus, and they watched the sealed battlefield descend into chaos.
• Mutating lizards began exploding, killing more of their own forces until the Dwarf assault collapsed inside the Light Shield.
• Su Mo and Hunter Tiger returned to Qinggang Shelter, where Hunter Tiger predicted Hades would call a meeting of the city’s shelter managers.
• Su Mo agreed to attend the meeting because he wanted to learn the biological weapon’s origin and develop a way to counter the Biological Inhibitor.

After the dwarves’ defeat, Su Mo learned that Hades had used Academy Gene Sequence technology to turn the Heavy Tank Lizards against one another. Katerina warned that the technology could not easily be stopped and asked Su Mo to take her with him so she could continue researching and search for the Academy.

• Chen Shen announced that Qinggang City was a high-risk area and called for combat drills after the dwarves’ attack exposed the guards’ inexperience.
• The dwarves surrendered when their force field neared collapse, and the guards captured 92 survivors and sent them to the dungeon at Outpost Camp.
• Kevin proposed that the West Suburbs Alliance pretend to cooperate with Hades, then evacuate with its supplies if Qinggang Shelter threatened them.
• Su Mo showed Katerina footage of the battle, and she identified the lizards’ frenzy as the result of violently activated Gene Sequences developed at the Academy.
• Katerina revealed that Hades had been one of the professors researching Gene Sequences and asked Su Mo to take her with him in exchange for carrying out their agreed research tasks.

After Katerina explained how the Sequence Bomb’s activator worked, Su Mo prepared for Hades’s invitation to a second conference at Qinggang Shelter, suspecting a trap and planning to test an Energy Stone Bomb against the shelter’s wall. Across the city, Hades’s letter reshaped alliances, while Kensa vowed to retaliate and Dragon Rise Village’s factory directors discussed launching gliders.

• Katerina left her shelter plan in motion, explained that the Sequence Bomb’s activator could be dispersed by strong winds, and offered Su Mo a detector in exchange for a safe new identity.
• Su Mo accepted Katerina’s request and arranged for people to meet her after she came out late that night.
• Su Deben brought Su Mo Hades’s invitation to a second conference at Qinggang Shelter, and Su Mo decided to attend while secretly preparing an Energy Stone Bomb attack on the High Wall.
• Hades’s letter promised executions of senior elders and three years without initiating city battles, prompting many shelter managers to support Qinggang Shelter while Kensa angrily rejected the change and vowed to make Hunter Tiger suffer.
• At Galaxy War Chariot Factory, Spicy Iron Hammer urged Midnight Airplane and No One Knows More Than Me to launch gliders and capture the market for travel to Qinggang City.

Factory owners pooled funds to build an aircraft, and Su Mo approved the project while recognizing that Tian Yuan Territory’s factories needed broader markets. He committed 500,000 copper coins to aircraft research and divided the remaining funds between infrastructure relief work and security forces.

• Spicy Iron Hammer, Doomsday Madman, and No One Knows More Than Me persuaded Midnight Airplane to lead an aircraft project, gathering more than 50,000 copper coins from factories and the village.
• Midnight Airplane agreed to try building an aircraft after investors promised to share the costs and risks.
• No. 0 reported the project’s low success rate to Su Mo, who chose to support the investors’ preferred aircraft over his earlier airship idea.
• Su Mo discovered that his territory’s enterprises had accumulated nearly one million copper coins while villagers’ median savings stood at fifteen copper coins.
• Su Mo ordered 500,000 copper coins invested in the aircraft factory, 300,000 used for infrastructure relief work, and 200,000 allocated to Tian Yuan Army and the Guard Office.

Su Mo launched the Tian Yuan Army’s third military reform after recognizing that Illusory Realm training had not prepared troops for real battles. The reforms established modern ranks and units, relocated the army camp, and opened a demanding new recruit program, leaving Li Hu in command of a 600-person New Recruit Camp.

• Su Mo approved 300,000 copper coins for the Tian Yuan Army’s reform, ordered its camp moved away from Hope Village, and set a target of 3,000 combat-ready soldiers.
• Hope Village announced new military ranks, assessments for current guards, and broad-based military service for eligible residents, drawing hundreds of interested applicants.
• The territory set March 1 as the start of two-month closed recruit training, while allowing early applicants to pay twenty copper coins and one hundred Contribution Points to begin sooner.
• A total of 565 people signed up on the first day, including scavenger-route players and retired soldiers, and Su Mo ordered the training to be as harsh as possible.
• Li Hu resigned as Minister of the Guard Department and became a junior Second Lieutenant commanding three companies in the New Recruit Camp.

As the Tian Yuan Territory built a military camp, temporary residents Ram and Xia Zuo plotted to bring wandering survivors from Qinggang Shelter to Wasteland Bone Village and earn formal status and merit. Meanwhile, Su Mo arranged for a secret newcomer to be flown to the territory, hinting that her arrival could change its future.

• Residents of Wasteland Bone Village and wandering survivors, including Ram and Xia Zuo, worked overnight building the military camp and looked forward to the village's meals and better treatment.
• Xia Zuo told Ram that temporary residents could earn formal status through meritorious deeds and proposed recruiting more wandering survivors from Qinggang New City.
• Xia Zuo argued that Osmon could gain influence and rewards by helping with the plan, and Ram agreed to bring him into it once they finished work.
• Su Mo learned that a newcomer had left the shelter and ordered her to be flown secretly to the territory, telling the kitchen to prepare food for her.